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Flow of Time in the Anime

Everyone was aging normally until Silvally's creation played havoc with the time/space continuum. Trying to clone a creator deity never goes well.


Nobody deserves that.
...
...
...well...
...no, not even them.

Ask that to Bonnie Swanson from Family Guy, I think she was pregnant for 6 years?
 
This doesn't work when you factor in the fact that several times we've seen Ash younger than what he is and ageing normally till present day, and the fact that Burnet is now pregnant (unless they decide to keep her permanently pregnant :lapras:).
I suspect Burnet's pregnancy will be like the Magnet Train. She'll just inexplicably have a baby when she eventually appears again and yet somehow Ash will still mysteriously remain ten the whole time... :unsure:
 
I see each series as a season (Winter, Fall, Summer, Autunm). That would mean he is almost two years on his journey.
 
I see each series as a season (Winter, Fall, Summer, Autunm). That would mean he is almost two years on his journey.
Not to rain on someone else's opinion, but a problem arises in that during the first half of BW Spring Deerling appear in several episodes whilst the later half has Summer Deerling scattered across the episodes which would indicate a length of time more likely to that of six months. :unsure:
 
Not to rain on someone else's opinion, but a problem arises in that during the first half of BW Spring Deerling appear in several episodes whilst the later half has Summer Deerling scattered across the episodes which would indicate a length of time more likely to that of six months. :unsure:
Hmm. We dont know how much time there is between the series either
 
Hmm. We dont know how much time there is between the series either
Yeah, for all we know, several months had passed between Sinnoh and Unova. The end of the first three series flowed neatly into each other (Orginal Series ended with Ash going to Hoenn; Hoenn/Battle Frontier ended with Ash going to Sinnoh). Sinnoh does not end with Ash going to Unova. Unova does end with Ash going to Kalos. We also don't know how much time had passed between Kalos and Alola. Same with the end of Alola and the new series.
 
Everyone up to and including Game Theory (in an actually tolerable manner) has tried to break this down. It's such a tricky question I just found it easier to have a Peggy Sue Ash realize even he doesn't know. Then keep the joke going when someone looks through his memories and is equally confused .

...It's honestly best used for a joke.
 
There’s a big reason why the flow of time is all over the place, in “Battle for the Badge” the narrator said that it had a been year since Ash had been there and in the “Pikachu & Pichu” short, at the end Ash said that it had been a year since Ash and Pikachu had met

So I’m supposed to believe that Ash managed to collect 7 indigo league badges, take part in the Pokemon league, travel the orange islands, collect 4 orange islands badges, win the orange league and travel part way through the Johto region in a year
That’s why I think the movies and it’s shorts aren’t cannon well partly cannon
Ash remembers meeting a Lugia (2nd movie) in the two parter where they meet a baby Lugia that’s the only one I can remember
 
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My personal headcanon:

1 year in real world = 1 month in pokémon world

Travel in Kanto takes about two months
Orange Island takes several weeks
Johto league takes three months
Hoenn league takes four months
Sinnoh league takes four months
Unova league takes three months
Kalos league takes three months
His stay in Alola takes three months

He's about to be 12 year old. Narrator is simply drunk.
 
I have my own theory for why Ash is still 10 years old when he should be almost 34 by now (if him being born in May 22, 1986 as a fact) or at least 14-15. And before you ask, yes, it was somewhat influenced by Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels.

M10 had Dialga and Palkia clash when their worlds collided, with their battles happening for quite some time before the Incident of Alamos Town. If they starting fighting not long after Ash's journey began, the damage from these clashes caused a time crash, similar to the one at the end of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Only this time, the only major damage done was halting the aging of everyone (humans, at least) alive at the time of the crash, explaining why Ash has not aged and will still be 10 years old long after we all pass away of old age.
 
I remember back when DP was airing people saying that Satoshi had to be around 13-14 since the show was running for pretty much 10 years at that point. But then BW came and revealed he was still 10.

So, for me, there's no theory in this. Time passes normally (it usually mentions in how many months the league will take place) but characters don't age.
 
I'm rewatching Kanto, and it's funny, in episode 9 which I saw today, at a point when Satoshi is yet to catch the starter trio or earn a single badge himself, he says he set out on his journey 2 months ago! :ROFLMAO:
 
I'm rewatching Kanto, and it's funny, in episode 9 which I saw today, at a point when Satoshi is yet to catch the starter trio or earn a single badge himself, he says he set out on his journey 2 months ago! :ROFLMAO:
I told y'all before; the kid's a vampire.
When this is finally confirmed it'll be the greatest plot twist of all time. Move aside, Darth Vader.
 
I'm rewatching Kanto, and it's funny, in episode 9 which I saw today, at a point when Satoshi is yet to catch the starter trio or earn a single badge himself, he says he set out on his journey 2 months ago! :ROFLMAO:
He also tells Takeshi on the Nibi Gym episode he's on the journey for 2 weeks. I miss those early days when the timespan was usually mentioned. Though it makes sense they dropping those mentions almost completely later on when it was decided no character would age.
 
I'm rewatching Kanto, and it's funny, in episode 9 which I saw today, at a point when Satoshi is yet to catch the starter trio or earn a single badge himself, he says he set out on his journey 2 months ago! :ROFLMAO:

That episode kind of coincided with real time, which might have been the writers' intentions. The 9th episode would have been 8 weeks since the first episode, which is just about 2 months.
 
That episode kind of coincided with real time, which might have been the writers' intentions. The 9th episode would have been 8 weeks since the first episode, which is just about 2 months.
I kinda wonder what would have happened if they had taken that approach, but judging by how long the anime has lasted, Ash would be in his 30's by now.
 
Well, I've done some more reading online, and apparently there is a fairly consistent seasonal cycle throughout the show if you pay attention, which also renders a few of my previous calculations inaccurate. From Indigo League through XY&Z, a total of 7.25 seasonal cycles can be observed—however, between Adventures in Unova and Beyond and XY, there appears to be approximately half a year missing, as it skips directly from early autumn to late spring. Begs the question of what happened in that gap that we ended up missing.

Regardless, based on this observation and his previously stated date of birth, Ash would have been nearing eighteen years of age by the time XY&Z ended if he were allowed to age. This means, going into the school setting of Sun & Moon, he would have been just the right age for starting college. Coincidence? :unsure:
 
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